A variety of types of conventional thermoacoustic engines have been hitherto proposed that include a single-loop type as shown in FIG. 3, a double-loop type as shown in FIG. 4, and the like (Patent Literature Documents 1 to 3).
A single-loop type thermoacoustic engine 30 shown in FIG. 3 includes a prime mover 32 and a heating device 33 both provided in a loop pipeline 31. The prime mover 32 is made up of a high-temperature side heat exchanger 34, a low-temperature side heat exchanger 35, and a stack 36 for connecting the high-temperature side heat exchanger 34 to the low-temperature side heat exchanger 35. The heating device 33 is made up of a high-temperature side heat exchanger 37, a low-temperature side heat exchanger 38, and a stack 39 for connecting the high-temperature side heat exchanger 37 to the low-temperature side heat exchanger 38.
A double-loop thermoacoustic engine 40 shown in FIG. 4 includes two loop pipelines 41 and 42, a branch pipeline 43 employed as a resonance pipe for connecting the loop pipeline 41 to the loop pipeline 42, a prime mover 32 provided in the loop pipeline 41, and a heating device 33 provided in the loop pipeline 42. As described in conjunction with FIG. 3, each of the prime mover 32 and the heating device 33 is made up of a high-temperature side heat exchanger 34 or 37, a low-temperature side heat exchanger 35 or 38, and a stack 36 or 39 for connecting the high-temperature side heat exchangers 34 or 37 and the low-temperature side heat exchanger 35 or 38.
In the thermoacoustic engines 30 and 40 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the prime mover 32 is supplied with waste heat to maintain a desired temperature difference between the temperature of the high-temperature side heat exchanger 34 and that of the low-temperature side heat exchanger 35 to thereby generate acoustic waves from the low-temperature side heat exchanger 35. The acoustic waves so generated are then transmitted to the high-temperature side heat exchanger 34 via the stack 36. The acoustic waves are further transmitted to the heating device 33 via the loop pipeline 31 or the loop pipelines 41 and 42 and the branch pipeline 43 to maintain the low-temperature side heat exchanger 38 of the heating device 33 at a desired temperature. By doing so, the high-temperature side heat exchanger 37 can be utilized as a heat source.
When the heating device is used for a refrigerating machine, the low-temperature side heat exchanger can be utilized as a cold source by maintaining the high-temperature side heat exchanger at a desired temperature. Electrical energy can be obtained by connecting a linear generator to the pipeline.